Hordes of Hunger Games fans have an appetite for merchandise and social media marketing

David Gard/The Star-LedgerAs "The Hunger Games" fans eagerly await the movie's release on Friday, the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Howell celebrated the book-turned-film with costumes, trivia and, of course, merchandise with an event for fans of the franchise.

The rabid fans of "The Hunger Games" no doubt know the outcome of the fictional competition, but that hasn’t stopped them from stocking up on T-shirts, hats, bags, buttons and jewelry to support their favorite characters as the movie debuts nationwide.

Lionsgate Entertainment, the small Canadian studio that produced the film, has gone to great lengths to make sure devotees of Suzanne Collins’s trilogy of young adult thrillers have all the merchandise and social media they need to feel immersed in the world of Penam.

"From day one, we have tried to make room for the enormous passion of The Hunger Games fans in our film’s marketing campaign," said Tim Palen, chief marketing officer at Lionsgate.

It shows.

Lots of fans followed a Hunger Games-themed sign reading, "May the sales be ever in your favor," into the Hot Topic at Bridgewater Commons, said store manager Katie Lee. Shirts supporting the main character, Katniss Everdeen, and mockingjay pins have been especially popular.

In Howell, a small horde of fans gathered Wednesday night at the Barnes & Noble bookstore to compete in trivia and games.

Meanwhile, the movie’s official Facebook page has been liked 3 million times and counting. Over 300,000 people follow @TheHungerGames on Twitter and anyone can sign up for a free I.D. card inspired by the book’s 12 districts.

The studio partnered with CafePress for the cards and an official online store, where licensed items are being sold next to ones designed by fans. Known for their on-demand customized apparel, the e-retailer encourages shoppers to upload their own graphics in banner ads on the site.

"This is interesting because this business of open source and the free contribution of ideas is something studios usually don’t gravitate toward," said Jim Bilello, president of U.S. Marketing Services in Chicago, whose firm has worked with Lionsgate on campaigns for the "Saw" franchise.

He said Lionsgate has a knack for reaching young audiences.

"They’re really expert at kind of tapping the nerve of the young, millenial, teen fantasy crowd," he said. "When I read the synopsis for Hunger Games I thought, ‘It’s rated R,’ but they got a PG-13. Otherwise they’d exclude a huge chunk of their core audience."

Knowing that diehards will see the movie out of loyalty to the book series helped Lionsgate keep its marketing budget at $45 million.

John Longo, who teaches stock valuation and market psychology at Rutgers Business School, said the hype has made an impression on Wall Street, too.

Lionsgate Entertainment Group’s stock price soared to a 52-week high as the studio shows signs of reaping big rewards with its newest franchise. Yesterday the stock closed trading for $14.55, up nearly 90 percent this year.

"In a nutshell, I’d call it a speculative buy," he said. "It’s had a good run-up and the people buying are speculating that it could be as successful as the Twilight franchise."

The four teen vampire and werewolf films cost $265 million to make and had a gross revenue of $2.5 billion.

Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com, said the timing of the release keeps District 12 T-shirts from competing with gear for other big movies, like "The Avengers," which comes out this summer.

"At this time of year there are virtually no event films to be excited about," he said, "but in the summertime there’s one every week."